What's New: 100 Million Credit Cards Compromised at Heartland

Heartland Payment Systems disclosed a data breach Tuesday that could have compromised millions, perhaps 100 million or more, credit card numbers. According to Heartland, malicious software was planted on some of its computers sometime in 2008 to watch for credit card information. Indications are the criminals were able to obtain the magnetic stripe data, allowing them to create counterfeit cards. It is unclear if the criminals used phishing or other methods to get their software installed.

One thing to watch for on your own credit card accounts is a small donation to a charitable organization, which criminals sometimes use to test stolen card numbers.